A quick background... due to crappy school issue we decided to HS my 5 year old son for Kindergarten. The decision was sudden and we decided to keep 3rd grade DD in PS for the time being. Now that I am getting more in the groove, and I'm able to take a leave from my job after Christmas, I asked my 3rd grader if she wanted to homeschool starting in January. She thought about it and started listing pros and cons...

Pros:

I get to stay home with you!

I get to sleep in!

I get to play with my little brother and sister!

I get to learn more what I want to learn.

I get to go on the cool field trips you guys do.

I don't have to deal with the mean kids in my class (just a few, but they make a big impact on her)

Cons:

I won't see my friends every day.

Only one con, but it's HUGE for her! She is such a social outgoing kid. She will really miss her friends. I want her to homeschool, but only if she's fully on board. Any suggestions for overcoming this big obstacle in her mind?

We kept my third grader home this year and this was his Major issue. I told him we would be involved in homeschool groups where he would meet other kids and get to play with them. This helped greatly, we are involved with a good group and he has not asked about going back to school once.

If there are HS groups in your area you can join, that might help. We have lots of field trips and just days at the park with other HS'ers. Probably the two most helpful things for my DS, 9, is our huge HS co-op on Fridays and scouting. Our co-op meets for three class periods/hours and there are 115 kids enrolled. He's in classes with kids close in age, and some with kids' ages spread far apart. Scouts has been a good way for him to meet more "local" kids (we aren't in that big of a city). He's in a pack with boys he'd go to school with if he was in PS. He also attends after-school bible club two Fridays a month with other local kids. He participates in indoor & outdoor track and cross country, which is helpful.

There's plenty of ways for your DD to have, and make friends. I would ask her just how much she actually gets to talk/play with friends at school - 20 min at lunch or recess?

One idea is to enroll your daughter in the girl scout troup at her old school. Then she can still socialize on a regular basis. We have also used GIrl Scout material as the basis for homeschool activities. My daughter always has the most badges!

My daughter spends time talking to her friends from PS on the phone and they still have sleep overs. She has made news friends at homeschool group. I am thinking about attending a larger church in our area that has lots of activities for kids. I think this will also help.

If she was home then your whole family would be more free to do various things, go places, go to museums, take classes or do things with other homeschoolers. We have a weekly park day where the kids have social play for about 4 hours together, that is a pretty long time to have 100% unstructured social time with other friends. Again you could do regular events or classes with other hoemschoolers so you are not all trapped in the house all day long. Not many homeschoolers I know are trapped in our houses.

Also if your DD is truly friends with those school girls maybe they could do an after school playdate or weekend playdate?

My dd is having a tough time with this also, but not because of being homeschooled. The "friends" she had in public school weren't good friends so she doesn't really miss them. But her best friend is also homeschooled so we do some things together and she's having a tough time because we're moving between now and next summer. She hates the idea of leaving her best friend behind. I told her that you never really lose a good friend and that she can write, email, and call her when she chooses to. But it's still tough.